When to freeze Islamabad? PTI to give final date on Sunday

LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has clarified that no person or party will be allowed to shutdown the federal capital. Imran Khan later announced on Saturday that Islamabad will certainly witness a huge sit-in. But when? The PTI Chairman will disclose it on Sunday.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had announced October 30 as the date for siege however, there were indications that the party may change it by a day or two.

Speaking to media representatives at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, Imran Khan said the siege of the federal capital was inevitable because the nation wanted a corruption-free Pakistan.

Khan said, not without justice, PTI would leave the roads now.

He sounded confident that the residents of Islamabad would come out of their homes and support the PTI in its fight against a corrupt Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government at the centre.

The Chairman PTI announced that a confirmed date for the siege would be given after an important party meeting in Lahore tomorrow where the top leadership would also review final arrangements for the showdown in the capital.

Hinting at the details of the protest, Khan said a sit-in would be staged on all major roads leading to the government offices in Islamabad and reiterated that the protest would be peaceful.

He also accused the premier of using state institutions only to hide his corruption.

PTI was seeking justice with the parliament for the last six months, but no one took our requests seriously, said Khan.

“When justice is obstructed, then people are left with no other choice but to demand it on the roads,” said the Chairman PTI.

He reminded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif how he vowed to present himself for accountability on the floor of the parliament and later never attempted to prove his innocence in the infamous Panamagate Scandal.

 

Panamagate and protest

The Chairman PTI had launched Ehtesab (accountability) Movement in the country against the governing PML-N.

Initially, Imran Khan demanded a probe into the health of the elections 2013, which his party thinks were rigged.

Later names of several Pakistanis including Nawaz Sharif’s children Maryam, Hussain, and Hasan surfaced in one of the world’s biggest ever data leaks through an online searchable database made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in April 2016, following which the prime minister had formed an inquiry commission to probe his family’s alleged links to offshore accounts.

Unfortunately, the federal government and the opposition could not agree on drafting joint terms of reference (ToR) for the, which would probe Panama Papers Leaks.

However, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) failed to conduct investigations into the case.

The Chairman PTI later announced to go for a street agitation, demanding Nawaz Sharif to step down as the premier of Pakistan.